Tehran Paralyzed by Millions: Historic 12-Hour Funeral Procession Begins for Martyred Leader Ayatollah Khamenei
Tehran - BORNA - Hours before the official start of the historic event, the main procession route and all connecting streets were heavily bottlenecked with citizens dressed in black. Mourners waved portraits of the late Leader, Iranian national flags, and symbolic red flags of retribution, chanting slogans and reaffirming their allegiance to his legacy. The official start at Imam Khomeini Square was marked by a thunderous, collective rendition of the national anthem by the massive crowd.
In addition to millions of Tehran residents, massive crowds from various provinces across Iran and international delegations have poured into the capital to take part in bidding farewell to the man affectionately referred to as the "Martyred Master of Iran" (Aghaye Shahide Iran). The air resonated with traditional mourning chants, including "O people of the sanctuary, the commander and standard-bearer has not returned," alongside raw emotional cries of "Grief, grief is today, the day of mourning is today / The martyred Khamenei is before God today" and "O my martyred Leader, your path continues; O my martyred father, your path continues."
Despite the official 6:00 AM designation, public squares like Enqelab Square were fully packed long before dawn with organized lamentation, poetry recitations, and traditional chest-beating (Sinezani) circles. Tehran's metro and public transportation fleet have been operating at absolute peak capacity since the early hours of the morning to transfer the unprecedented influx of mourners. Concurrently, emergency response services, the Red Crescent, firefighters, traffic police, and law enforcement personnel have been deployed across the capital since midnight to manage logistics, traffic flow, and public security.
Along Enqelab Street, dense crowds are advancing toward Enqelab Square, passing a newly erected fiberglass monument titled "The Clenched Fist," designed under the artistic direction of Peyman Ghaneh. The base of the monument bears the inscribed names of student martyrs from the recent "Third Imposed War" in Minab and Lamerd. Large-scale portraits of prominent martyrs from the country's two recent defensive conflicts and the regional Axis of Resistance are also prominently displayed across the entire route.
General Hassan Hassanzadeh, the head of the organizing headquarters for the farewell, prayer, and funeral processions, confirmed that all structural plans were meticulously put in place to accommodate families, youth, and citizens from all walks of life. He detailed that the procession is entirely ground-based, utilizing a custom-designed vehicle to carry the holy bodies.
"Supported and accompanied by our dear people, we are witnessing a unique, historical, and unrepeatable farewell," General Hassanzadeh stated on Monday morning. "We are sending off our beloved martyred Imam, who lived and governed in the heart of the Ummah for decades, before handing his holy body over to the celestial shrine of Imam Reza." He noted that due to the historic scale of the turnout, the time allocated for the procession to move from Enqelab Square toward Azadi Square is projected to last between 10 to 12 hours.
This monumental turnout follows two consecutive days of public farewell ceremonies held at the Imam Khomeini Grand Musalla, where public queues stretched for kilometers from pre-dawn until late into the night, forcing organizers to extend the visiting hours by an additional two hours on the final evening. Yesterday morning, the official funeral prayers (Namaz-e-Mayyit) were led at the Musalla by the prominent Grand Ayatollah Ja'far Sobhani.
Prior to the public ceremonies, a state funeral was hosted on Friday at the Musalla's grand nave, attended by the heads of the three branches of government—including the President, the Parliament Speaker, and the Chief of the Judiciary—as well as the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council, senior military commanders, cabinet ministers, and parliamentarians. Dozens of foreign political leaders, diplomats, and international delegations also attended the state service to pay their respects and convey condolences to the Iranian nation.
According to the National Committee for the Funeral of the Martyred Leader, the procession will move to the holy city of Qom on Tuesday. The ceremonies will begin with prayers at the Jamkaran Mosque and proceed toward the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh.
On Wednesday, the holy bodies will be flown to Iraq for state and public funeral processions in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, where ceremonies will be conducted at the Holy Shrine of Imam Ali, the Holy Shrine of Imam Hussein, and the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Abulfazl al-Abbas.
Following the processions in Tehran, Qom, and Iraq, the body of the martyred Leader will arrive in Mashhad on Thursday, where he will be laid to rest in his final eternal resting place within the inner sanctuary of the Holy Shrine of Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Reza.
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